Little Brother by Norah Neilson Gray (1882-1931). Dating from 1920-1922, this oil painting is a typical example of her work with her favourite subjects, young women and children.
Norah Neilson Gray was born in Helensburgh but moved to Glasgow with her family around 1901. She studied at Glasgow School of Art and later taught design and drawing there and at St Columba's School in Kilmacolm. By 1910 she had a studio in Bath Street and had held her first one-woman show in Glasgow, having previously submitted works to exhibitions at the Royal Academy, the Glasgow Institute and in Paris.
After a period nursing in France during the First World War, Gray returned to Glasgow and continued to work as an artist, particularly in the field of portraiture. In 1921 she became the first woman to be appointed to the hanging committee of the Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts. She was regarded as the foremost Scottish woman painter of her time at home and with a strong reputation in Parisian art circles. Gray died in 1931 of cancer.
Reference: 1836
Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums
Keywords:
artists, children, First World War, Glasgow School of Art, nurses, oil paintings, painters, portraits, Royal Academy, Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts, St Columba's School, women